What's all this Esair business about anyway?

With all the fantasy stuff out there, what's the point of making more? Well, to put it simply, the point is that we found that all there is out there is pretty much the same old soup. Esair is not!
Nowadays when one say "fantasy" people immediately start to think of old bearded magicians, fire-breathing dragons, the eternal battle of good against evil etc. Well, you'll find none of that here... that's a start! On the other hand: alternate history romans, dinosaurs, realpolitik, airships, deranged mutants and warrior princesses, you'll get that aplenty! This is a world based on the same solid physic laws, economics, politics, superstitions and intrigue of our own world. Works in the same way, but is different. It is a new world, one that is full of wonders and mystery and never seen before creatures and people, but nevertheless it is all realistic and believable. In this sense it is perhaps more correctly science-fiction than fantasy. Or maybe historical fiction? Whatever. Call it as you prefer, we just think of it as Fantasy for the wargamers!

Ok, but what is the damn point?
Ever played mainstream Fantasy rules? Got bored? When there are two hosts that charge across the table going at each other, meet in the middle and dice it out, what's the point of playing it at all really? Why bother maneuvering if you're fighting a God? What use are scouts when your opponent can wave a magic wand and summon an army out of nowhere? What about tactic, strategy, supply lines, logistic, intelligence? In other words, where is the actual "wargaming" gone in the average fantasy games?
By respecting realism and keeping within the boundaries of possible Esair maintain a solid internal consistency that is the fundamental base for strategy and tactics to have a meaning. Easir is here to bring you this, a new world to discover, new units to play with, new tactics to learn and the full richness of a fantasy universe, but one that's fun to play with toy soldiers! Think of it as an a new period, an expansion for historical gaming. As a matter of fact we encourage you to try and play Esair using historical rules, it's so much more fun that way!

But what a range of miniature of prehistoric Orcs has to do with all this?
Esair is not only an exciting new range of miniatures, (and there is so much more to come!) but we want to make it an entire new world for you to discover and play with, and this is just the very beginning of it all. Simply put, we didn't want to start out with the pick of the crop just yet... Trogs are the primitive inhabitants of a desolate region, not all the Esair world is the same! Much like in the real world, separate and far away places have different races, cultures and levels of development. Although Esair is generally set in what may be the equivalent of classical antiquity, we have everything from half-animal beastmen living in the stone age to small but sophisticated kingdoms with a much more advanced development level than the average, but let's not rush too much forward now, all in good time... We want the Esair universe to grow gradually to include a detailed background story and supporting maps, illustrations and description of all races, people, places and everything else. As the range of miniatures grows so will the background material that we hope will inspire you to game the Esair universe in your favorite way, from RPG to table battles all the way to full scale campaigns!

What is Trogball then, and what it has to do with it?
Most "Fantasy" these days is loosely based on the middleages, by contrast the dominant cultures, people, technology and events in Esair are inspired more by the Early Roman Empire. Trogball is the Esair equivalent of gladiatorial games, it consist of violent confrontations between teams of more or less armed players who entertain audiences by butchering each other while at the same time attempting to score more points than their opponents. Like ancient gladiators Trogball teams and players often mimic mythological creatures and races.

So basically Esair is...?
In essence, Esair is an alternate history universe roughly based on the Early Roman Empire. It introduces a new completely original world, full of inventions and ideas, new heroic characters and non-human races, creatures and beasts never encountered before, myth, legends and everything else you may expect from a fantasy world, but all contained into a self-coherent realistic and detailed universe. It includes (or anyway is intended to, just give us time!) not only original miniatures but also illustrated stories, comic books, tabletop miniature game rules, RPG source books, etc.
But enough of that, you'll find (and you're very welcome to post!) suggestions on how to game the Esair universe in your favorite rule system, relative stats, suggested scenarios, and more people to share your experiences with in the Esair group, so the first step is easy: